Are you getting as much business as you want?
A recent study showed that fewer than half of all contractor businesses are consistently growing. If you want to be in the half that is increasing your revenue year after year, you need to be consistently pulling in new prospects.
Digital marketing is an ongoing, multi-pronged endeavor. To bring in new leads consistently and convert them to contracting clients, you need to put these tactics and strategies into play.
Getting Them to Your Site
Everyone knows that a website for your contracting business is a must. But, no one is ever going to see if it you aren’t using the right strategies both on and off your site.
Pay-per-Click (PPC) Ads
The best place to advertise building work is on the pages where your potential customers already are. You can do this by choosing keywords in your ads that fit the terms your potential customers are most likely to search.
A mix of Facebook ads and Google Ads in search results and on relevant websites can put you in front of the customers who are looking for construction services like yours. Be sure to use geographic data to ensure that the local construction business customers you are looking for are the ones who make up your valuable clicks.
A Good NAP
Any time you are updating listings for your business on Angie’s List, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google My Business or another outlet, it is vital to make sure that your NAP information is consistent and up to date.
NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone Number. You should have all of this information easily available on all of your listings, and it should always be accurate and up to date. If you change or add phone numbers, or switch location, make sure that you update your listings to match. This doesn’t just make it easier for a customer to get in touch. It also helps boost your rank in the search engines.
This strategy is especially important when you are operating several locations. Ensuring that each location has their Google My Business and other local listings updated and accurate is essential for informing your customers and building trust with search engines. This means including a relevant link in your listing specific to each location. For example, you may want to link to a specific location’s page on your website versus the homepage for all listings.
Email Marketing Campaigns
Big purchase decisions, such as a major remodeling, are often not made the first time a potential client searches for a contractor. Email marketing allows you to build a relationship and makes it more likely that a potential customer will choose you.
You should always be building targeted email lists that allow you to reach out directly to customers through a channel that is nearly ubiquitous. In a recent study of small business marketers, email was considered the second most effective medium for increasing awareness.
You can build your email list by offering items such as an email series on an area of contracting relevant to your specific business. This series is a way to show your expertise and also keep your business top of mind.
Social Media Marketing
Social media offers you opportunities to put your business in front of prospective customers easily on an ongoing basis. A combination of organic posting and paid ads on platforms such as Facebook Ads can make sure that you are getting exposure to the local audience most likely to be looking for your services. A building materials advertisement can be used to send people to your page on Facebook or to your website to get more information.
Post regularly using images, video and text to attract attention. Make posts locally relevant to build a connection with prospects in your local area.
On-Site Elements That Convert Contracting Customers
Getting people to your site is just half the battle. Once they are there, you need a professional, effective website that converts. There are many things that you can do to make your website a more effective tool in your digital marketing efforts. Think about what your ideal customer values in a building materials contractor, incorporate them on your site, and make sure those elements are easily navigable and digestible.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a combination of creative and technical strategies that helps search engines understand what your site is about and send the right searchers to you. A page advertising “building material for sale”, for instance, should have keywords relevant to people looking for building supplies.
While keywords can be an important factor, before you incorporate them on your website make sure that each piece of content is truly providing value to a potential client. Search engines such as Google are trying to help customers gain the most relevant information for their search queries. So, if you are wanting to rank for a specific term, consider seeing what websites are ranking for that term, and what are they providing that your site can improve on. Are they providing a fantastic user experience? Is most of the content that is ranking high quality blogs or resources? It might be time to consider adding a blog.
A frequently updated blog gives search engine spiders new material to crawl. Blogs are great way to add value to an SEO strategy. If executing this type of content, fast-loading images and design that complies with Google’s latest best practices all help your site rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Great Landing Pages
Every time you create a new ad campaign, you should create a customized landing page to go with it. Landing pages are dedicated pages that continue the conversation once you have attracted a construction customer’s attention.
For instance, an ad for window installation should connect to a landing page that concisely describes the service you offer and why potential customers should pick you.
Finally, an effective landing page ends with a clear, concise and compelling call to action. Ask them for their business, and they are more likely to pick up the phone and call you for a quote.
Effective Design
Today’s design needs to be fast-loading, simple to read and mobile-friendly. Three out of four consumers say that they judge a business’s credibility based on site design alone. If your site is outdated or not optimized for mobile, there’s a good chance that your potential clients will move on to your competitors.
We could write an entire post on what makes effective design, but it distills down to a few principles:
- It needs to be fast. Elements on your page should not take more than a few seconds to load. Customers are likely to navigate away if they have to wait.
- It has to be mobile-friendly. More than half of all traffic comes from mobile devices like phones and tablets. Responsive design gives prospects a great experience no matter what device or browser they use.
- It has to be lean and functional. Every page on your site should serve a clear purpose. Customers should be able to find the information they need to make the next step in doing business with you.
Digital Marketing Requires On-going Effort and Analysis
Your construction company’s digital marketing requires an ongoing effort and measurements of your key performance indicators. Social pages, directory listings, content, and your website itself needs to be updated to reflect the latest best practices in digital marketing, but also within your industry. By creating a strong foundation and nurturing your prospects online, you can bring in a steady stream of new potential customers and convert them to happy, loyal clients.
